L

I reached for her bra and concentrated on dressing her. I pressed a kiss to her shoulder before I covered it up with her shirt. She had let me put her bra and shirt back on without protest, and the caveman in me was beating on her chest. I loved taking care of her, and having her let me only made me a little more insane where she was concerned.

"I'd prefer you stay out here while I go find Jisoo. You have that well-pleased look on your face, and it's seriously sexy . I don't want to end up in a fight," I told her once I had her covered up again.

"I came here with Jisoo because I was trying to encourage her not to sleep around with guys who would never look at her for more than a fun time. Then you came with us, and now here I am in the backseat of your car. I feel like I owe her an explanation," she said, looking worried.

I had assumed Jisoo had been trying to ruin Jennie, but Jennie had been the one to reach out to Jisoo. Interesting. My sweet Jennie was trying to save the world from itself. No one had ever saved her. Until now. Damn time someone showed her how special she was.

She was watching me nervously. Did she think she had just done what she was trying to stop Jisoo from doing? Surely she understood this was different.

"I'm trying to decide if you meant that to sound like you were doing what you encouraged her not to do," I said, as I moved over her and slid a hand into her hair. "Because I've had a taste, and I'm not sharing. This isn't just for fun. I may be slightly addicted." This was nothing like what she was trying to stop Jisoo from doing. I would have never touched Jennie had I not been sure I was claiming her as mine. There would be no one else touching her.

I leaned down and kissed those lips I loved so much. Tasting her bottom lip with the top of my tongue had become one of my favorite things to do. She always shivered when I did it, and the taste was always delicious.

"Mmmmm, yeah. You stay here. I'll get Jisoo to come out and talk to you," I whispered against her mouth.

She nodded but didn't say anything else.

I moved away from her warmth and opened the door to get out. I had to find Jisoo and get us home. I wanted Jennie in my room. In my bed. I wanted more of what we'd just had. I could fix the past. I could make it all right. I would make it right for her. I had to. I couldn't lose this.

Back in the bar, I looked around and found Jisoo with some guy, taking a shot of something that didn't look like another girlie drink. Great. I didn't want a drunk Jisoo to hinder my plans. Jennie couldn't fix what had been messed up for years. Once Jisoo had been different. I remembered her when she was younger. I'd seen her with Tyler once. They had been friends, I think, but then he'd run off, and the next time I saw Jisoo was underneath a guy whose daddy owned condos along the Gulf coast. She'd been fucking the trust-fund brats ever since.

Her gaze landed on me, and I motioned for her to meet me outside, then turned and went back out into the night. I looked in the direction of my Range Rover and made sure Jennie was still safely inside.

"You two disappeared," Jisoo said, with a slur to her voice and a big grin on her face. I turned to see her walking toward me. Then she stumbled, and I had to reach out and grab her before she face-planted on the pavement. "Oops." She giggled, going limp in my arms. "I can't feel my feet," she said through her laughter.

I wasn't going to be able to leave her here. "Looks like I'm taking you home now, too," I told her, and stood her up straight.

"What? No no no no. I dunwanna go yet," she said, shaking a finger in my direction. "Jennie needs to come see the new cowboys I found. She'll love 'em."

I tensed and jerked her toward the car. "Jennie isn't interested in cowboys anymore. Got that? No more guys for Jennie. She's going home with me," I said angrily.

Jisoo stopped and swayed, then looked at me, her eyes round with understanding. "She lives at your house. Do you mean home to her room or home to your room?" she asked, then burped and covered her mouth.

"My room. Go," I said, making her walk again.

"Oh, shit," Jisoo said in a loud attempt at a whisper. "You —oh, shit, Lisa, you can't fuck her. She ain't . . . I think she's a virgin." Jisoo was whispering loudly enough for the entire parking lot to hear her.

"Shut up, Jisoo," I growled, and opened the car door for her. "She wants to go home, with me. But first, she wants to talk to you." This was not how I wanted to spend the drive back to Rosemary Beach. I'd hoped I could talk to Jennie. Now we had a drunk Jisoo talking about Jennie's virginity. Shit.

"Well, look at you. Making it with the hottest thing in Rosemary Beach in the back of her Range Rover. And here I thought you wanted a blue-collar man," Jisoo said to Jennie.

"Climb on in, Jisoo, before you fall on your ass out here," I ordered, wishing I could shut her the hell up.

"I don't wanna leave. I liked Earl, or was his name Kevin? No, wait, what happened to Nash? I lost him . . . I think," Jisoo muttered, as she climbed inside clumsily.

"Who are Earl and Kevin?" Jennie asked.

Jisoo reached for something to grab, then fell backward onto the seat and almost on top of Jennie. "Earl is married. He said he wasn't, but he is. I could tell. The married ones always have the smell about 'em."

I closed Jisoo's door and then walked around to get Jennie out of the backseat. She was going up front with me. I jerked her door open and held out my hand for hers. "Don't try to make sense of anything she says. I found her at the bar finishing up a round of six tequila shots that married Earl had bought her. She's trashed." I wanted to clear up anything Jisoo had said or was going to say that could upset Jennie.

Jennie slipped her hand into mine, and I squeezed it to reassure her.

"No need in explaining anything to her tonight. She won't remember it in the morning," I told her.

She was worried about clearing the air with Jisoo, and Jisoo was doing exactly what she always did—just without the trust-funders.

I helped Jennie down, then pulled her against me and closed the door, leaving Jisoo inside. "I want a taste of those sweet lips, but I'm going to deny myself. We need to get her home before she gets sick," I said, not wanting this to spoil what had just happened with us.

Jennie nodded, staring up at me with those trusting eyes. I didn't want to ever let that face down.

"But what I said earlier. I meant it. I want you in my bed tonight," I reminded her, in case it was possible she could have forgotten.

She nodded again. I slipped my hand to her lower back and walked her over to the passenger door. I wasn't going to pretend we were friends anymore. We weren't friends. We had never been friends. It was more than that. With Jennie, it was always more.

"Fuck the friend thing," I told her, before taking her waist and picking her up to put her in the seat. It was high, and I wanted a reason to touch her. I closed her door and walked around to climb in, and the grin on her face made me warm inside. "What's the grin for?" I asked, hoping I had put it there.

She shrugged and bit her bottom lip. " 'Fuck the friend thing.' It made me laugh."

I laughed. Good, I had put that smile there. I'd also made her laugh. Why did it feel like I'd just solved world hunger?

"I know something you don't know. Yes, I do. Yes, I do," Jisoo began chanting in a drunken singsong voice.

I didn't want her distracting us. Messing this up. It was my time with Jennie, and I wanted that. Why couldn't she just pass out or something?

Jennie shifted in her seat to look back at Jisoo.

"I know something," Jisoo whispered loudly like she had been doing outside.

"I heard that," Jennie said.

"It's a big secret. A huge one . . . and I know it. I'm not supposed to, but I do. I know something you don't know. You don't know. You don't know." Jisoo started singing again.

She knew a secret. A sick knot formed in my stomach. I had secrets. Did she know my secrets? Did she know what Jennie didn't know? How could I have Jennie if Jisoo told her before I could fix it? "That's enough, Jisoo," I warned.

Jennie turned back around, and I could tell I had startled her. I just wanted Jisoo to shut up. I didn't want to hear any secrets she knew. I reached over and slipped a hand over Jennie's. I needed to reassure her, but I couldn't look at her right now. The panic in my throat was taking over.

Jisoo couldn't know. Could she? No one knew. Had Rosé told someone? Fuck. I couldn't let this get out. I had to make this right. Jennie needed me. I couldn't lose her.

"That was the best time ever. I like blue-collar fellas. They're so much fun." Jisoo started babbling again. "You should have looked around some more, Jen. It would have been smarter on your part. Lisa is a bad idea. 'Cause there is always Rosé."

Motherfuckinghell!

She knew something. No. She couldn't know. Not the truth. I moved my hand from Jennie's to grip the steering wheel. I needed to think, and throwing Jisoo's drunk ass out of the car wasn't an option. Jennie would never forgive me for that.

"Is Rosé your sister?" Jennie asked. The confusion in her voice made me wince. She was questioning my relationship with Rosé. If she only knew the truth. I wouldn't have her. She wouldn't be here.

I just nodded. I couldn't say anything else. My throat was thick.

"What did Jisoo mean, then? How would us sleeping together affect Rosé?"

How did I respond to that? I didn't know what Jisoo knew exactly, but I couldn't tell Jennie the truth. I hadn't figured out how to make the past OK. How to make Jennie not leave me when she found out the truth.

She was going to keep asking me questions. I had to stop her. I couldn't tell her anything. Not now.

"Rosé is my younger sister. I won't . . . I can't talk about her with you."

Jennie's body was rigid. The tension in the car was over-powering. There had to be a way out of this. Jennie trusted me. I wanted that trust. I wanted to deserve it. Jisoo couldn't know. She wouldn't know. Rosé had never said anything to anyone. It was a secret she held close. I was overreacting.

Jisoo's snoring filled the car, and Jennie fixed her gaze on the road. Neither of us said anything. I didn't want Jisoo to wake up and say anything. She was better off passed out. I was safer that way. My secrets were safer.

The distance between Jennie and me seemed to grow by the second, and I hated it. I wanted her in my arms again. I wanted her crying out my name. I didn't want this wall between us.

When I pulled up to the office, I didn't ask Jennie if this was where we needed to leave Jisoo. I couldn't say anything to her. I was terrified she'd know. Had she sat there and figured it all out?

I shook Jisoo enough to wake her up and help her out of the car. She began mumbling that her dad would kill her and she wanted to sleep in the office. I was pretty sure her aunt Darla would kick her ass in the morning, but that wasn't my problem. I fished out the key from Jisoo's purse and unlocked the door, then got her inside.

The large leather sofa was close to the door, thank God, because Jisoo reeked of cheap tequila, and I didn't want to be the one holding her up when she started puking. I dropped her onto the sofa. "Lie down," I instructed her. I grabbed the nearest trash can and set it beside her head. "Vomit in this. You get that shit on the floor, and Darla will be even more pissed."

Jisoo groaned and rolled over.

I went to leave. Just as I opened the door, Jisoo's voice stopped me.

"I won't tell her about Rosé's secret. But you need to." She looked sad as her glassy eyes met mine. She knew Rosé's secret. Shit.

"I will. When it's time," I told her.

"Don't wait too long," she said, then closed her eyes. Her mouth fell open with a soft snore.

I locked the door and closed it tightly behind me. She was right. I had to fix this before it was too late.


J

When she got back into the car she was still silent. I tried to figure out why she would shut down like she did over Rosé and what Jisoo's comment could mean but nothing made sense. It was only minutes later that we were pulling into the four car garage. I opened my door and climbed down as soon as she put it in park. I didn't wait for her as I made my way to the door. It was locked so I had to wait on her to come unlock it.

Lisa opened the door and stood back so I could enter. I walked inside and headed for the kitchen.

"Your room is upstairs now," She said, breaking the silence.

I knew that. My mind was just elsewhere. I turned and headed for the steps. Lisa didn't follow me. I wanted to look back and see what she was doing but I couldn't.

"I tried to stay away from you." Her words sounded dark. I stopped and turned back around to look down at her. She was standing on the bottom step staring up at me. The pained expression on her face made my heart ache.

"That first night I tried to get rid of you. Not because I disliked you." She let out a hard bitter laugh. "But because I knew. I knew you'd get under my skin. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away. Maybe I hated you a little bit then because of the weakness you'd be able to find in me."

"What is so wrong with you being attracted to me?" I asked, needing her to at least answer me that.

"Because you don't know everything and I can't tell you. I can't tell you Rosé's secrets. They're hers. I love her, Jennie. I've loved her and protected her all my life. She's my little sister. It's what I do. Even though I want you like I've never wanted anything in my life, I can't tell you her secrets."

Every word from her mouth sounded like it was being ripped from her. Rosé was truly her sister and I understood that kind of loyalty and love. I would have died for my twins Yeri if I could. She had been only fifteen minutes younger than me but I'd have done whatever she needed me to. No guy or other emotion could have made me betray her.

"I can understand that. It's okay. I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry." I was sorry. I'd pried into her life and her sister's. Obviously whatever Jisoo knew she shouldn't know it. If Jisoo thought that Lisa's need to protect her sister would be an issue for us she was wrong.

Lisa closed her eyes tightly and muttered something. She was dealing with something. Maybe this had brought up a bad memory. As much as I'd like to go down there and hug her I knew I wasn't welcomed right now. I'd messed that up.

"Good night, Lisa," I said and walked up the stairs. I didn't look back this time. I went directly to my room.